ADD SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL TO YOUR ACCU-FEEL V2

[supercoup93]

HI ALL:
I would like to pass on a bit of information that I think everyone here, who uses Accu-Feel would benefit from. I have been simming for a very long time. I've gone through most of Microsofts' flight simulators from their first to their last and flew others in between. I built a walk in, sit down simulator that has had many upgrades done to it to where it is now. I fly the heavies. Mainly a 737-400 and 800. I run FSX with Flight Deck Companion, game commander, VOXATC, TrackIR 5 and a host of scenery and airport enhancements. I recently installed Accu-Feel v2 and out of all my addons, this has done the most to add realism to my simulator experience. A great addition.
Now let me get to what I really wanted to talk about. In my simulator, I installed an automotive bucket seat. That's my pilot seat. A while ago, I got interested in adding a shaker to my simulator for added realism. I did install one into the seat and it really made a big difference. I thought it was the best it could be until I installed Accu-Feel v2. Now you could actually feel the wind against the landing gear. Feel wind going over the spoilers, even reverse thrusters sound and feel better. Accu-Feel has enhanced every feeling I ever had from the shaker.
I'm sure a lot of you have looked into a shaker and found them to be quite expensive but if you have Accu-Feel, trust me, you should look into a shaker. I found a way to do it pretty cheap. Most shaker systems are expensive when you add in the shaker and then the amplifier but I found one that works very well for a very cheap price. It came out quite some time ago as a gaming device built into a back pack that you strap on and connect to any device that produces sound, even a television or radio. It's great for games as well as concerts, T.V. shows, or anything. You fire a weapon in a computer game and you feel the shot. It's a great piece of equipment.
I bought one. It's called the "Aura Interactor" you can google it and it comes up. They sell them all over the internet. I bought mine from Ebay. Here' the best part. i only paid $28 for it. It comes complete with backpack, amplifier with adjustments for power and sensitivity, power supply and universal connectors to attach it to everything.
Here's what i did. i opened the backpack and took the shaker unit out of it and installed it in the bucket seat in my simulator. I attached it to the seat frame inside the seat cover. Connected it to my sound card, fired up FSX, Adjusted the power and sensitivity and flew. When you start the engines you feel them spool up. When you taxi, you feel the tires on the ground. When you take off you feel the rumble of the wheels and when you lift off the ground, it stops vibrating. It is a really great addition to your simulator. With a little extra thought, you could attach it to any seat. If it is attached to the outside of a seat, you might want to enclose it in a styrofoam box to eliminate any noise it might make but if installed within the seat upholstery you wont need it. I fly with headphones and speakers so its not a problem.
Here's the best part. Accu-Feel made this thing perform 20 times better than before. I don't know how these guys did it but compared to the default Microsoft sound, Accu-Feel made this shaker come alive. It's really like night and day.
Go to Ebay. They have this Aura Interactor for about $25. This thing is well worth the money. If you run this thing with Accu-Feel, it will change your whole concept of flight.
if anyone has any questions, just post them, I'll check back.
Great addition to FSX guys, you really did a great job on this software.

[Scott - A2A]

Thanks for the tip. I have not tried Accu-Feel with these kinds of devices (butt kicker, Aura Interactor), but I can imagine yes, there are a lot of full-range sounds in Accu-Feel that would drive those devices. $25 is a great price.

Scott.

[supercoup93]

Hi Scott:
Yes, Accu-Feel Does a much better job with these devices than the default FSX sounds. It seems that the base sounds of Accu-Feel delivers much more body to the device. It turns a $25 toy into what feels like a $300 piece of equipment. It works. Best part is you can test it for yourself. Just turn off Accu-Feel and you will notice the difference. By the way. Butt Kicker is very expensive and a bit of an overkill. This Aura Interactor is just enough and cheap enough and so far it's 7 years old and still going strong so the quality is there. I have also put one into the floor of the simulator and that gets felt through the yoke and rudder pedals. Thanks again for producing Accu-Feel. It's a great piece of sound engineering.

[dvm]

I too use an automotive bucket seat. I have wedged my sub woofer between the base of the seat so it is making contact with the seat. It works pretty good and cost nothing. I will look into the device stated as it may be an improvement.

[supercoup93]

Hi DVM:
I found sub woofers to work but they are a speaker, contain a cone and create sound. This transducer has no cone and the sound is limited to just the vibrations it produces which can easily be muffled by insulating it. Also the amplifier that comes with it has 2 controls, Power and sensitivity, which allows you to adjust how much you want and when you want to feel it. i have it tweaked so that while on the ground i feel every bump in the road and every vibration the engines turn out but when I'm in the air, the vibrations are very minimal. The transducer not containing a noise producing cone and the controls on the amplifier are the improvements I find that work out fairly well. Since i mounted this transducer inside the seat back, it minimized the noise. I just noticed online that they also sell a back cushion from that same company instead of the backpack which may even work out better. That makes it portable. You could leave your simulator and plug it into your television and get a back massage at the same time. Let me know how you make out.

[dvm]

I just checked the price at Amazon and a new Aura Interactor is $60.00 plus shipping which causes me to not be as interested as I have something that works quite well. As far as the sub woofer making sound that is true but I have to put it somewhere and under and attached to the seat it does double duty. For those who don't have the money it is sure worth a try. Works for me. I certainly do appreciate your thoughts and the info on the Aura Interactor it sure is reasonably priced even at $60. compared to the Butt Kicker stuff.

Vince

[supercoup93]

Hi Vince:
I just caught an auction on Ebay and won it for $21 plus $8 shipping. It seems that no one else bids on these things. I'm keeping one as a spare. Woofers work very well and if it works for you, that's all that matters. Happy Simming.

Joe

[dvm]

Joe,

What output did you connect the amp to ?

Vince

[supercoup93]

I connected it to the speaker output of my sound card. It comes with the the cable to connect. At the input of the amplifier, i put a dual jack so that I could use one input for the speaker output of the sound card to the amp and the other i use for my headphones or speakers. With
FSX you are able to split the sound if you use headphones. You can have ATC voice come through the headphones and have other sounds go to your speakers. If your using onboard sound, you would hook it up the same way. I also found that the headphone output of the sound card came across louder than my speaker output. I think its because the speaker output has less output due to speaker systems having their own amp and headphones do not. But it works right off your sound card just as if you were connecting an amplifier or sound system to your computer. Radio shack sells a 2 into one speaker connector. i found mine in the dollar store.

Joey

[dvm]

Joe,

I bought a Aura Interactor on eBay. Will let you what I think of it as compared to my sub woofer.

Vince

[supercoup93]

Good move Vince!
I think You'll like it. It's best to experiment with it to fit it to your setup. I have had mine for about 6 years so Im going to give you just a few pointers that i learned over the years. I installed mine in the seatback cushion of the bucket seat. You could install it in the bottom, but the back of the seat is more enclosed so that if the vibrations produce any sound they will be minimal. i opened up the upolstry and screwed a piece of steel from one side of the frame to the other and attached the transducer to it, this way the vibrations are even on both sides. Even with it mounted in the back, you will feel it throughout the seat. Later on, I went back into the seat and built a box out of styrofoam and closed the transducer in to the box. If you fly with headphones you wont need to do this but at that time I was not and I heard some noise from the vibrations, then again I sometimes I get a little carried away. Mount it solid, close it in, and make sure nothing hits the transducer as you would if it were a speaker. playing with the amp controls is a big part. They are not volume and tone controls so power and sensitivity need to be adjusted according to what you fly. I dont know if you fly with headphones but that too makes a world of difference. Just play with it. i think you'll like it. If you need anything just post it here, I'll keep checking.

Joey

[A1C_Elliott]

i wonder how well accu feel will work with an actuator system PLUS the shaker..... hmm worth a thought...... anyone wanna donate an acutator system with a seat for me to test lol!

[supercoup93]

Hey, why not get someone to donate a hydraulic motion platform while your at it!!!! LOL

[A1C_Elliott]

thats what i meant! lol HEY this is some serious research. In return for your donation, i will give alot of thank yous and show you all the fun im having with it with a series of millions of pictures (may or may not be clothed) and also some video of me testing and pretty much just enjoying the rest of my life with it! lol!

[dvm]

Joe,
I finally got around to installing the interactor. Had to do a little thinking first. I removed the device from the backpack and mounted it on a square of 1x6 lumber with a hole cut in it for clearance. I mounted that to the inside of one of my 4x8 seat support rails. I had intended to make some sort of box to mask the sound of the device. I decided to try putting the sub woofer back under the seat without any seat contact hoping it would mask the sound. That did the trick and you have to listen carefully to hear it now. The sound the device does make is really not that foreign to a real aircraft. The sound of inverters and dynamos used in a lot of old war birds is actually similar. Now the comparison between the sub woofer contacting the seat and the interactor. The interactor of course is more distinct and capable of more power. I rarely set the power above 4. I also have much more control over the effect between aircraft and the installation was worth the effort. I have my sound volume control and interactor power control within easy reach of my left hand so I don't have to take my hand off the stick. I must say however if one wants a cheap and easy way to add a little seat of the pants to their sim the sub woofer technique is not a bad alternative. Once you get used to having the effect it is very noticeable without it. I would attach a couple of photos but I guess I do not have enough juice to post photos (Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.) Thanks again for the info on the interactor.

Vince